After Crash, No New Speeding Rule for Corzine's Drivers

By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

Published: June 1, 2007

Acknowledging that Gov. Jon S. Corzine's recent near-fatal crash occurred as a trooper drove their S.U.V. at 91 miles per hour in a 65 m.p.h. zone, the New Jersey State Police superintendent said Thursday that the governor's drivers would still not be prohibited from speeding in non-emergency situations.

Testifying before a panel reviewing the State Police executive protection unit, the superintendent, Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, said he would encourage the governor's office to make more frequent use of police helicopters, which avoid traffic hazards and other potential threats.

Colonel Fuentes said that when the governor traveled by car, it would be ''counterproductive'' to order drivers not to speed, since troopers are responsible for protecting him from dangerous and unexpected situations, matters as various as traffic accidents and potential assassinations.

''Speed of the motorcade is a tool that can be used for risk avoidance,'' he said, ''distancing the vehicle from perceived threats or to position the motorcade on the highway in such a way that maximizes the ability to maneuver amidst traffic.''

Colonel Fuentes said Mr. Corzine had been the target of 40 threats of violence or death since his inauguration in 2006, some of which are believed to have come from the same person. While that number is not considered unusually high for a governor, the superintendent said it illustrated that troopers had to remain vigilant and have the discretion to react quickly.

''We view every situation as a potential emergency,'' he said in an interview after the hearing. ''So we don't want to take the discretion away from the drivers.''

Colonel Fuentes also announced that the State Police would require increased training for the executive protection unit and add 25 officers to the unit in an effort to prevent fatigue from governors' long days.

He was testifying before a panel appointed by Attorney General Stuart Rabner, headed by former Gov. Christie Whitman and charged with formulating new guidelines for troopers who drive the governor.

Neither Colonel Fuentes nor members of the panel would discuss details of the governor's April 12 accident, which the State Police is investigating.

Mr. Corzine has voluntarily paid a $46 fine for failing to wear his seat belt, and has taped a public service announcement urging others to buckle up. It is unclear whether the driver, Trooper Robert J. Rasinski, will face any traffic or disciplinary charges.

William L. Gormley, a former state senator, said he and other members of the panel welcomed Colonel Fuentes's call for a larger unit and for more frequent use of helicopters. Other security experts have made similar suggestions to the panel, he said.

Mrs. Whitman said New Jersey governors had to balance logistical and political concerns in planning their daily travel. New Jersey is small enough for residents to expect to see their governor at public events regularly, she said, but clogged highways can make it difficult to travel by car.

Yet some political candidates, including Mrs. Whitman herself, have criticized previous governors for keeping an executive helicopter for official travel, saying that it was elitist and a waste of tax dollars.

But Colonel Fuentes testified that the state already had helicopters operated by on-duty troopers for surveillance missions and for emergencies like transporting seriously injured patients to hospitals.

''We can easily, at no additional cost, put the governor in the back seat of these helicopters,'' he said.

Mrs. Whitman said she hoped that the intense coverage of Mr. Corzine's accident and its effects -- more than a dozen broken bones, a week in intensive care -- would not overshadow the fact that New Jersey governors travel so much, often 100,000 miles a year, that the State Police must provide protection.

''People see the State Police drivers and the helicopter and think it's a perk,'' she said. ''But with the demands of the job, it's necessary. And there is a serious issue about security.''

When asked whether the panel would recommend that governors wear seat belts and that their drivers adhere to speed limits, Mrs. Whitman said the panel would not issue its recommendations until next month. But she said she recalled that the troopers who drove her during her years in office often had to exceed the speed limit to avoid being overrun by other cars on the road.

''We sped,'' Mrs. Whitman said. ''As a general rule, we tried to move with the flow of traffic. But on the turnpike, if you go 65, you're being passed by trucks.''